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Local playwrights speak about inspiration of ‘Spirit Whispers,’ premiering Friday at Canton Winterfest

Posted 2/9/16

Spirit Whispers on the Grasse” will be presented by the Grasse River Players (GRP) at Sykes Hall at St. Lawrence University on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13. A performance will be offered …

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Local playwrights speak about inspiration of ‘Spirit Whispers,’ premiering Friday at Canton Winterfest

Posted

Spirit Whispers on the Grasse” will be presented by the Grasse River Players (GRP) at Sykes Hall at St. Lawrence University on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13. A performance will be offered on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. and two performances on Saturday will take place at 3 and 7 p.m. Sykes Hall is located on Park Street. From left are Mary H. Egan, Art Johnson, Barbara Burdick (music director) and Elaine Kuracina

CANTON -- The Grasse River Players will be performing the world premiere of the play “Spirit Whispers on the Grass” on Friday at 7 p.m.

Playwrights Mary H. Egan, Art Johnson and Elaine Kuracina conspired to write and produce this play. Recently I was able to interview them.

Q1: What inspired you to collaborate on a play? What was your driving force?

MHE: I was intrigued. I like history and I love doing research. I also love the theater so I was in.

EK: Chris Rediehs, Commissioner of Social Services, asked me if I would be interested in writing a play about the county home. He told me about Prof. Mindy Pitre and the anthropological studies she was doing at the home’s cemetery. I was intrigued and enjoy writing about history. I asked Mary and Art if they would be interested. The three of us committed to working on the project. We went to the cemetery, met Prof Pitre, worked with Linda Casserly, Canton Historian, checked archives at Silas Wright House, and talked to community members.

AJ: We had done Spoon River last February and the three of us thought why not do something like that locally? I don't remember who came up with the county home idea but it sounded good.

Q2: Have you penned and produced any plays previously? What were they?

MHE: This is the third play I have written. The two previous were for a charity event and a small high school drama school.

EK: I created FOREVER COWS for Canton’s Bicentennial. I traveled the US with my original one-woman musical “On Stage, Diamond Lil” about the Broadway 1890’s legend Lillian Russell. I wrote AMERICAN MUSE, a play with dance and film about Audrey Munson, the most famous model of the 1920’s who ended up in the Ogdensburg Psychiatric Center for 65 years. It was produced at SUNY Potsdam under the direction of Kim Bouchard.

AJ: I have written 20 dinner murder play-lets, all of which have been performed.

Q3: How easy/difficult was it to collaborate with others to write this play?

MHE: Collaboration is never without some small conflict but working with Elaine and Art is very easy and a great experience. I wrote several of the bios and put together the structure and dialog of the staff.

EK: The three of us picked different residents and worked separately on those biographies. We accepted guidance from Carole Berard and Neal Burdick, the editor. Input came from SLU Students, community researchers, Linda Casserly, Steven Sauter, and Karen Wells. Barbara Burdick is the music director.

AJ: I wrote seven of the biographies.

Q4: The characters in the play are residents from the County Home in Canton, New York. Was there any information about them? How did you “flesh” them out? Did you have a favorite that you connected to?

MHE: I started researching the archives at the Silas Wright House and I must commend the staff for their wonderful assistance. Without them I could not have gotten the amount of information and background on all the people that I managed to find. I think my favorite was Mary Brown Hild.

EK: We fleshed out the characters by the research we did and the facts gathered by SLU students and community researchers. My favorite character was George Mitchel who died at 7yrs. - the only person to have a marble tombstone with his name on it.

AJ: We got names and dates, very little else. My favorite is Louis Arquette, aka Lewis Arguist. He's from a little village in Quebec. He remembers his papa singing behind the plow: "Aupres de ma blonde..."

Q5: It isn’t difficult to find information on the internet about the home, but the information that is available is hardly a full accounting of the living conditions and of the people who lived there. What was life like for the residents and the people who worked with them?

MHE: The house was self-supporting by farming and gardening. Every able bodied person worked in some way to keep the home running so everyone was busy, well fed, clean and cared for. They became a family.

AJ: Those who could worked on the farm or in the house. But I didn't get the impression it was like the Dickens-era English workhouse.

Q6: Were you able to connect with some of the characters current family members? How do they feel about the play?

MHE: I didn’t, but the staff is named for actual staff.

EK: I did not connect with family members. But, as we talk about the show, more people come forth and tell about their ancestors who were in the home.

AJ: I was not aware of any. If there are, they may take issue with my vignettes which are, of necessity, fictional.

Q7: Can you give us a little background information about the County Home and why it is important to the County’s history? When did it close?

EK, MHE, & AJ:

There was no place for the poor, indigent, ill, mentally ill, unwed and pregnant, etc. In 1826 St. Lawrence County established a county Alms House and farm. The later brick building was built in 1869. It was torn down in 1976. I don't know when it ceased operation but the building served as county offices until 1976.

Q8: When and where can this play be seen?

EK, MHE, & AJ:

The play will be presented at Sykes Hall in Canton during Winterfest, February 12th at 7pm and February 13th at a 3pm matinee and again at 7pm.

Q9: What is next on the horizon for you?

MHE: I am already writing a murder mystery that may be presented in March or April. I have a drama that I would like to present to GRP based on the life of a maiden aunt of mine. I just have to work up the nerve to present it.

EK: I would like this historical docudrama to appear at various venues throughout the state. There is a lot of interest in the poorhouse cemeteries.

AJ: Two or three dinner murders in March and April.

Q10: What question would you like me to ask you about this experience, and your answer please!

EK: Why do I do this stuff? Because I love to tap into creativity. I continue to write and have a couple of projects I am working on.

AJ: How do I like doing ensemble pieces like this? Very much. It gives a lot of actors a chance without a horrendous number of lines to remember.

Q11: If someone would like to join the Grasse River Players, what would they need to do?

EK, MHE, & AJ: Everyone is welcome, come to a meeting or audition, dues are $2 per year. Contact our Facebook page.